"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all." – Helen Keller

The Weather Apocalypse

There is nothing is more boring than reading about other people’s weather; no one agrees with this more than me. However, every so often, weather can be so monumental that it deserves a shout out.

I lived 40+ years of my life in Utah. We have awarded ourselves the title of “Greatest Snow on Earth” (reference our license plates). To claim the greatest snow, it’s logical to assume that we get a lot of it. And we do.

However, when we left Utah, three years ago this week, I was more than happy to leave all that snow behind. It’s beautiful to look at, but a pain in the neck to deal with. And when I went home to Utah for a few days last week, my shivers more closely resembled seizures. When I boarded the airplane on Monday morning, I was thrilled to be out of the white stuff.

And then, to my horror and disbelief, what awaited me in Amman, but The Great Weather Apocalypse of 2013! It’s not supposed to snow in the Middle East! We have palm trees for heaven’s sake; it’s not supposed to snow in climates with palm trees! Nevertheless, more snow has dumped in the past 48 hours than I ever experienced in that time frame in the Rockies. The entire city of Amman has shut down; schools, churches, even the embassy. The Secretary of State was supposed to arrive here today from Israel, but had to cancel his plans (that’s actually not a bad thing, because it makes Jason’s life a lot easier.) We are literally snowed-in. I have never been snowed-in in my entire life! Yet here we are, unable to leave our apartment, unable to go anywhere, completely reliant on whatever food we have on hand. (Good thing Mormons hoard food. It’s part of our doctrine on self-reliance. Look it up.)

So, to pass the time, we’re watching movies, cleaning the apartment, putting together puzzles, playing cards and eating the endless stream of cookies supplied to us by our awesome neighbor Jessica. And, Jason put together this little film for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

BTW, the Jordanian kids who live above us had completely destroyed our snowman within 30 minutes of its creation. I’m wondering if they view snowmen as more scary, zombie child-snatchers than jolly creatures of Christmas lore. Poor Frosty never stood a chance!

Finally, on a serious note: The Syrian refugees in this region, including around 120,000 at a refugee camp north of Amman near the Syrian boarder, are facing desperate conditions in this weather. They could use our prayers now more than ever.